Putra to become premier brand awards show

Thursday, 04 March 2010 16:48

PETALING JAYA: The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) expects the newly-introduced Putra Brand Awards to become the premier brand awards show in the country within two to three years. By M. HAFIDZ MAHPAR, StarBiz

4As president Datuk Vincent Lee said this was because it was an award show "by the industry, for the industry."

To be presented on March 24 at Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, the Putra Brand Awards is organised by the 4As and endorsed by Malaysia External Trade Development Corp, the Malaysian Advertisers Association, Branding Association of Malaysia, and Media Specialists Association.

The Star is one of the partners.

Lee said that over the last three to four years, brand owners had been complaining of "shady" brand award shows.

"They said they had been hoodwinked and pressured into 'buying' awards. Their competitors -- far lesser brands -- got awards because they didn’t pay, and this disrupted brand performance of the country," he told StarBiz.

At the end of the day, he said, it was the consumers who were cheated because they thought the winning brands were good products.

For the Putra Brand Awards, 6,000 consumers nationwide were polled and the awards' brand council, who will receive the results tomorrow, will make their recommendations to the board of governors.

The brand council would also look at some SMI and SME brands that had not been voted by the consumers.

"They hadn’t spent much money (in marketing) but are starting to do a lot of work," he said.

Lee said among the major shocks from the online poll was that a local brand came at the bottom of the poll in the automotive category, one of 18 product/service categories.

He said that besides honouring brands, the Putra Brand Awards might also honour brand managers and brand directors.

The Putra Brand Awards is an extension of Malaysia's Most Valuable Brands (MMVB), a three-year-old brand valuation and recognition exercise.